F2: Vesti hasn’t ‘given up’ and is ready for ‘full attack’

Frederik Vesti of PREMA Racing has bounced back from his DNF in Zandvoort to take victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race around Monza. 

 The 2023 season has seen a tight championship battle with Frederik Vesti and Théo Pourchaire being the title protagonists. After the summer break, it was Pourchaire leading the Drivers’ Standings. However, after the F2 Sprint Race at Monza, Vesti managed to reduce the gap to his rival to only nine points.

Throughout the season, Vesti has wracked up more race wins compared to Pourchaire. The Mercedes junior achieved his fifth victory today after going from third to first in the Sprint Race. Pourchaire, however, has only taken victory in the first round of the season, back in Bahrain.

Back in Zandvoort, both Vesti and Pourchaire failed to finish the Feature Race. This weekend, the two have bounced back with Vesti scoring 10 points and Pourchaire scoring five points.

With the championship so close to being sealed, FormulaNerds spoke to Vesti after the race in the press conference, along with other media.

‘I’ve not given up’

In the post-race press conference, FormulaNerds spoke to Vesti about his mindset. In particular, we asked what his mindset is like at this stage in the championship and whether it’s a focus for him during the races.

Speaking on this, Vesti said:

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m just happy to take this win. The championship is important, of course, for the driver, but it’s all about confidence, it’s all about building a rhythm.

“My rhythm has been a bit broken since Spa and Zandvoort, so obviously that has been something to deal with. But coming back like this, this definitely gives the confidence I need both for tomorrow and into Abu Dhabi.

“So I’ve not given up, that’s for sure. I’m ready to full attack tomorrow and give my everything.”

VESTI VICTORIOUS AT MONZA!! 🏆

The @MercedesAMGF1 junior soaks up the pressure from Martins behind to win the Sprint Race in Italy! 🇮🇹💪#ItalianGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/UsOuZJPlaE

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 2, 2023

As well as touching on his mindset during the race, Vesti spoke to the accredited media about what he was thinking at the start of the race. At the beginning, Ralph Boschung locked up into Turn 1 allowing Richard Verschoor and Vesti to go ahead, which ultimately led to the PREMA driver overtaking the Van Amersfoort Racing’s driver.

On this, Vesti explained saying:

“My mindset on the grid was to first of all focus on the start. In F2, you can actually gain quite a lot if you manage to do a good start.

“And then I could see into T1 that [Ralph] Boschung locked up, so I just tried to keep focus on my own line and then I was able to get a really good exit.

“The mindset is full-send, it’s attack and I need to because I’m behind Théo [Pourchaire] nine points now and if I want to win the championship, I need to take risks and move forward.”

The remainder of the championship

After today’s Sprint Race, the F2 season has three races left. Tomorrow is the Monza Feature Race followed by the Abu Dhabi weekend at the end of the season in November.

Nine points separate Vesti and Pourchaire. With Pourchaire starting on pole position tomorrow and Vesti in P8, the Dane will have to work his way through the field to battle the Frenchman.

Headline Image: X @Formula2